IELTS LISTENING S61T3
THEATRE ROYAL PLYMOUTH
Tutor: Hi Marco, come in.
Marco: Thanks. I’ve got a bit stuck trying to select courses for next semester. Could you help me, please?
Tutor: Of course. Sit down. First of all, most people just go for the areas of business that they’re interested in, but – even if something doesn’t look very stimulating – it’s important that you can use it Q21 once you get a job. It’s not much good choosing areas that aren’t going to be helpful later on.
Marco: Right. I want to go into management, so I’ll need to think about that. And should I start specialising in a particular area yet?
Tutor: I don’t think that’s wise, at this stage. It’s better to aim for a wide variety of subjects, especially as management covers so many possibilities. You shouldn’t be limiting your choices for later on.
Attempt full listening test…
Marco: Yes I see.
Tutor: You should also look at how the course is made up – will you have regular seminars and tutorials, for example, as well as lectures?
Marco: OK. Some of the lecturers are quite big names in their fields, aren’t they? Should I aim to go to their courses?
Tutor: Well remember that the lecturers who aren’t well-known may still be very good teachers! I’d say we have a consistently high standard of teaching in this department, so you don’t need to worry about it.
Marco: Good. Well, that’s a great help.
Tutor: Now last time we met, you mentioned doing Team Management, didn’t you?
Marco: That’s right. I’m still quite keen on the idea.
Tutor: The trouble is that because of changes in the content of various courses, Q24 Team Management overlaps with the Introduction to Management course you took in your first year. So what you’d learn from it would be too little for the amount of time you’d have to spend on it.
Marco: I’ll drop that idea, then. Have you had a chance to look at the outline I wrote for my finance dissertation? I left it in your pigeonhole last week.
Tutor: Yes. Why exactly do you want to write a dissertation, instead of taking the finance modules? It’ll be pretty demanding.
Marco: Well, I’m quite prepared to do the extra work, because I’m keen to Q25 investigate something in depth, instead of just skating across the surface. I realise that a broader knowledge base may be more useful to my career, but I’m really keen to do this.
Tutor: Right. Well, I had a quick look through your outline, and the first thing that struck me was that you’ll have to be careful how you set about it, as the way you’ve organised Q26 it seems unnecessarily complex. The data that you want to collect and analyse is Q27 potentially valuable, but you’ll need to narrow down the subject matter to make the whole thing manageable.
Marco: OK, I’ll have another look at it. I was talking to Professor Briggs about it yesterday, and I got some more ideas then. For part of the dissertation I was thinking of trying to persuade finance managers from three or four companies to let me ask them about their company finances. If not I think I’ll have to change to another topic.
Tutor: Well go ahead then. I could give you some names.
Marco: Thanks.
Tutor: Now let’s talk about practicalities. Your dissertation must be finalised by the end of May, so you should aim to finish the first draft by the end of Q28 March. Is that feasible?
Marco: Yes, it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll need to register for the dissertation, won’t I? Is that with the Registrar’s Department?
Tutor: No, it’s internal to this department, so you just need to let the Q29 secretary know. Do that as soon as you’re sure you’re going to write the dissertation.
Marco: OK.
Tutor: Then to analyse your statistics, you’re going to need some suitable software. If I were you, I’d drop into the Q30 computer office and ask them for a copy.
Marco: Right. So if I revise my outline, can I…